-
Middle Class Has a Large Stake in Success of Energy Industry
Tweet Share on Facebook January 31, 2012 Comment (4)Pete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
Given campaign-trail news reports lately, many Americans seem increasingly concerned with what their fellow citizens are paying in taxes. Is Mitt Romney paying "enough," given the assets he's amassed? Is Warren Buffett's secretary paying a larger proportion of her income in taxes than her wealthy boss?
-
Restraining Gas Exports (and Prices)
Tweet Share on Facebook January 31, 2012 Comment (4)Michael Lynch is the president and director of global petroleum service at Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
Calls for a ban on natural gas exports are perhaps the surest proof of the success of "fracking," or hydraulic fracturing of shale, which has seen a boom that has depressed wellhead prices by 75 percent, bringing major benefits to both residential and industrial consumers. The benefits to the overall economy include lower inflation, a better balance of trade, and more money in the pockets of consumers. Banning exports of natural gas to keep prices low, as some have suggested, would seem to be a win-win for both the economy and consumers. What could go wrong with the government trying to manipulate commodity markets?
-
Obama Exaggerates Role of Federal Government in Natural Gas Boom
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2012 Comment (8)Daniel Kish is the senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research.
In the State of the Union, President Obama argued that government-enabled oil and natural gas technology was responsible for the oil and gas drilling doom sweeping the United States. The president's claim that the federal government helped create the hydraulic fracturing boom is specious at best. After all hydraulic fracturing is more than 60 years old and predates the creation of the Department of Energy by 30 years.
-
Limiting Natural Gas Exports Sets A Dangerous Precedent
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2012 CommentMichael Lynch is the president and director of global petroleum service at Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
The huge boom in shale gas in North America has caused some companies to suggest liquefying it and shipping it overseas to markets where natural gas sells for three or four times the domestic price. This has prompted others, particularly industries that rely on natural gas, to argue that this should be prevented to avoid raising domestic gas prices. Aside from confirming a stunning reversal of the fuel's prospects, the proposal also represents a revival of a pernicious attempt to control fuel markets which ended during the Reagan administration.
-
Rising Foreign Demand Keeps U.S. Gas Prices High
Tweet Share on Facebook January 25, 2012 Comment (3)Patrick DeHaan is a senior analyst at gasbuddy.com.
If you've driven by a gasoline station lately, odds are you've seen the sign and understood the damage to your wallet. Gasoline prices across the nation are at seasonal all-time highs, and the psyche is certainly wearing on Americans. Not only is the continued talk about high gasoline prices depressing Americans, but it's also slowing demand for gasoline. In the most recent Energy Information Administration report, the government highlights gasoline demand that has fallen to under eight million barrels per day, a figure we haven't seen since January, 2001.
-
If Obama’s Serious About Jobs, He Shouldn’t Punish the Energy Sector
Tweet Share on Facebook January 24, 2012 Comment (1)Pete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
In last year’s State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to “out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world” and “make America the best place on Earth to do business.” One year later, however, the promise has borne little fruit. With Congress’s help, Washington’s signal achievement in 2011 seems to have been to “out-spend” itself; to do better, President Obama’s speech tonight must set a bold tone.
-
Lisa Jackson's EPA Throws Out Science for Politics
Tweet Share on Facebook January 19, 2012 Comment (2)Tom Pyle is the president of the Institute for Energy Research.
The Environmental Protection Agency is fulfilling its mission, at least if you ask President Obama. During his January 10 pep rally at EPA headquarters in Washington D.C.—a behemoth building of nearly 1.9 million square feet and housing more than 5,000 federal employees—the president lavished praise on EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for leading the effort to "keep us moving towards energy independence."
-
Punishing the Energy Industry Isn't Tax Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook January 19, 2012 Comment (1)Pete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
Now that Congress is back in session, President Obama is planning to ask lawmakers to approve tax policy changes to "reward companies that choose to do the right thing by bringing jobs home and investing in America."
-
Keystone XL's Rewards Outweigh Its Potential Risks
Tweet Share on Facebook January 18, 2012 Comment (1)Michael Lynch is the president and director of global petroleum service at Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
With the Obama administration's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline expansion project, the issue has been described as a potential political battlefield in the upcoming presidential election. This is unlikely to improve the public debate, which is already rather pathetic. On one side, it is argued that the pipeline will create 20,000 jobs and greatly reduce America’s energy dependence; on the other, it would increase carbon emissions and threaten pristine environments and the Oglala aquifer with contamination.
-
Feds Should Stop Betting Tax Funds on Solyndras
Tweet Share on Facebook January 18, 2012 Comment (3)Gregg Laskoski is a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.
Much attention has been given to the depths to which the U.S. economy has sunk in recent years and the pile of money needed to climb out of the abyss. According to CNN, the government's efforts to remedy the situation has cost American taxpayers $1.2 trillion, so far.
